Iraqi Government Calls on Other Militias to Follow al-Sadr's Lead, Freeze Activities
31 August 2007
The Iraqi government has called on the country's armed groups to follow the lead of the Shi'ite Mahdi Army militia and freeze their activities.
In a statement issued late Thursday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's decision to halt militia activities provided "a good opportunity" for other militias to suspend their operations in order to maintain stability and sovereignty of Iraq.
The radical Shi'ite cleric Wednesday ordered his militiamen to stop their operations, including armed activities, for six months.
In raids Friday, the U.S. military says coalition forces killed five suspected members of al-Qaida in Iraq and detained 13 others in the Tigris River Valley.
In other news, the U.S. military says a military transport plane carrying a delegation of U.S. lawmakers came under fire Thursday as it left Baghdad airport. No one was hurt.
A statement said the crew "dispersed flares as a defensive countermeasures and conducted standard evasive maneuvers." The aircraft, crew and passengers completed the flight to Washington safely.
The U.S. military also announced Friday that two Americans - a marine and a soldier - died earlier this week in combat operations in al-Anbar province west of Baghdad.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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